Chapter 15: O.W.L.s and Other Terrifying Flying Objects

So...hi.

I'd love to have a good excuse for my ridiculously long absence, like that I was saving the galaxy, or that I traveled with a band of dwarves to help them reclaim their home from a dragon that sounds suspiciously like Benedict Cumberbatch. The truth is a lot less thrilling: I had some pretty bad writer's block. Add that to me generally feeling lousy and you get the hiatus that accidentally happened. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it. :) I have to thank CrowningAster and bellatrixD for putting up with me through the writer's block and being such a big help.

Enjoy!

I crossed my arms and glared at the dormitory ceiling. I didn't know what time it was, but I was sure that it was past midnight. I should have gone to sleep hours ago. The other girls had long since fallen asleep, after going over their notes one last time. You'd think that their deep, rhythmic breathing would lull me to sleep, too, but instead it was grating on my nerves, keeping me wide awake.

With a sigh, I gave up and swung my legs out of bed, opening my trunk as quietly as I could so that I could grab a sweatshirt. The lid slipped from my fingers as I was lowering it and the trunk snapped shut, the sound echoing in the silent room. I froze as Samantha groaned and rolled over, burrowing deeper under her blankets, but no one else moved. I sighed and stood, grabbing my wand on my way out the door.

I wasn't worried about getting caught as I left Ravenclaw Tower. Being a prefect came with several privileges, one of those being that no one would question why you were out after curfew. I found myself heading in the direction of the Owlery, almost as if my feet were going there of their own free will.

I couldn't stop thinking about my O.W.L.s as I left the castle, which I found frustrating. I was so distracted that I didn't realize I'd forgotten my socks and shoes until I stepped onto the grass and felt the cold, wet ground under my bare feet. I groaned. I'd have to remember to wash my feet before I got back into bed, but there was nothing to be done about it now, so I kept going.

As I climbed the staircase, my thoughts turned back to the exam that was waiting for me in the morning. I shook my head in an effort to clear away the thought. What I wanted now was peace, and the Owlery was usually the perfect place to find that. The only light came from the large window, where owls were swooping in and out, some of them holding mice and frogs in their beaks. I glanced up at the perches, searching for Athena, but I couldn't pick her out among the dozens of glittering eyes. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move in the darkness. I instinctively drew my wand and Fred Weasley put his hands up in surrender, smirking.

"Fancy meeting you here," he said, arching an eyebrow. "Going to hex me?"

"Maybe," I retorted, nevertheless stowing my wand in my sweatshirt pocket. I paused to examine him for a moment. He was wearing plaid pajama pants and a red jumper with a gold "F" on it. His feet were bare, too, and his hair stuck up all over his head. It made him look years younger; it was easy to imagine him as a little kid. "What're you doing up here? It's the middle of the night!"

"I could ask you the same question," he returned.

"I asked you first."

He shifted slightly, almost as though he didn't want me to see something. I frowned.

"What's behind you?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said, too quickly.

I shrugged casually and made to walk past him, turning back at the last second and lunging for the space behind him.

"Oh, no you don't!" he yelped, catching me around the waist.

"Oh, yes I do!" I cried, struggling out of his grasp and reaching again. This time I seized the object he'd set in a niche in the wall. It was a book.

"Intermediate Transfiguration," I read aloud, staring up at him. "You're reading a book." I narrowed my eyes. "Fred Weasley, are you...studying?!"

"Don't sound so surprised," he grumbled, snatching the textbook out of my hand. "Maybe I don't actually want to fail all my exams."

"...Wow."

"Shut up."

I chuckled. "Well, I'll let you get back to it, then. Have fun."

I headed for the door, but he seized my hand before I reached the stairs. I froze, my eyes riveted to his fingers wrapped around mine.

"You have to promise you won't tell anyone you caught me studying," he said, his voice deadly serious. "It'll destroy my 'devil-may-care' reputation. Understand, Princess?"

I rolled my eyes. "All right, I'll keep your secret."

He sighed in relief and grinned at me. I couldn't help the smile tugging at my lips as I met his eyes. We stood in silence for several moments, until he glanced down. I followed his gaze and realized that we were still holding hands. I pulled away quickly, hoping that my face wasn't as red as it felt.

"Well...goodnight, then," I said awkwardly.

He cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his pajama pockets, taking a step back."Yeah. See you tomorrow."

I nodded and turned away, trying to ignore the pounding of my heart as I started back down the stairs. No way was I getting any sleep tonight.

The tension in the air was stifling. I glanced at the students around me. They were either quizzing each other on the material, or reassuring each other. We were about to take our first exam, the written Charms test. I told myself I wasn't nervous. Charms was my best subject. I knew the material, and besides, if I didn't, it was too late to do anything about it now. But my palms were sweating anyway. Beside me, Daniel was poring over his textbook, reciting spell origins to himself. Every so often, he'd remember that I was there and would ask me a random question. I guessed that I had a few more minutes before he started that up again, so I went back to observing the crowd.

Particularly, I found myself observing a certain redhead, who was standing a ways ahead of me with his brother. The two of them were laughing and cracking jokes for the amusement of the small crowd that had gathered around them. There was nothing in Fred's face to suggest that he was the least bit worried. In fact, he seemed to be the polar opposite of worried. I had to admire that about him. My thoughts drifted back to the night before. After I'd gotten back to my dormitory, my mind had refused to settle down. Instead, all that I could think about was the fact that Fred had grabbed my hand. I found myself replaying it over and over again in my head, until I could remember every little detail. My hand had practically been swallowed by his, it was so much smaller. His skin was rough and calloused, no doubt from years of handling a Beater's bat during Quidditch. And his hand had been warm, whereas mine had been freezing.

"Alyssa," Daniel said, touching my shoulder. I didn't turn to acknowledge him because at that moment, as Fred turned to beam approvingly at the crowd and his eyes found mine. I found myself smiling and mouthing "Good luck" to him.

He looked away quickly, turning back to George, who was saying something to him. I tried to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach and returned my gaze to Daniel, who had said my name again.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I was going to quiz you again," he said, frowning slightly. "Are you all right? You look like...I don't know. Like someone slammed a door in your face."

An oddly appropriate description, I thought. But I quickly forced a smile onto my face.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something. Ask away."

"Okay...when and by whom was the Severing Charm created?"

I sighed, searching my brain for the correct answer. It took me a few minutes to come up with it.

"It was created in the 1400s, right?" I said. "By...Delfina Crimp?"

"That's right," Daniel grinned. "All right, who-?"

I experienced an odd mixture of anxiety and relief as the doors to the Great Hall swung open to admit us. All the students fell into lines, and we stepped into the hall. The first exam was about to begin.

"This has been the most exhausting day of my life," Elena groaned, leaning against George's shoulder and blinking sleepily. He chuckled.

"Just think, we only have two weeks left of this," he told her, resting his head on hers.

I grinned at them. They were so easy together. If only everyone was so lucky. I stole a glance at Fred, who was sitting next to me, apparently too fascinated with his dinner to even look my way. I stabbed at my food with my fork, scowling.

"You okay, 'Lyssa?" Elena asked, sitting up straight and peering at me concernedly.

"Oh. Yeah, I'm fine," I said quickly. "Just tired. Like you said, it's been a long day."

"It really has," Fred put in. "In fact, I think I'm going to turn in early tonight."

George raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything as he watched his brother get up and leave the Great Hall.

"Is something wrong?" Elena asked, craning her neck as Fred disappeared.

George shrugged. "He might really just be tired. He went out sometime last night, and didn't get back in until early this morning."

"He went out? What was he doing?"

I sighed loudly, causing them both to look at me. "Whatever he was doing, he actually had a pretty good idea when he said he was turning in early. I'll see you two tomorrow."

"Are you sure you're all right?" Elena asked.

I rolled my eyes as I stood. "Don't be such a mother hen, 'Lena. I'm fine, I promise. You two behave yourselves."

"No promises!" George called after me as I left.

I spotted Fred on one of the staircases off of the entrance hall. He was walking slowly, his head hanging. I coughed to announce my presence as I stepped behind him, standing two steps below him. He spun to face me, his eyes wide.

"Jeez, woman. Can't you make noise like a normal person?"

I sighed. "Sorry. Next time, I'll stomp across the floor so you can hear me coming."

"Are you going to make a habit of catching me on my own?" he asked, smirking.

"Hopefully not. Can I ask you something, though?"

"Just one thing?"

I crossed my arms. "Yes. Why were you ignoring me this morning before the exam?"

"Ignoring you?" he frowned. "When did I do that?"

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. "When you looked me in the eye and then looked away without saying anything."

"Why would I have done that?"

Well, I thought that maybe..." I felt my face heating up. "I didn't know if you were just...embarrassed...about last night."

"Last night?" Confusion crossed his face. "You mean you catching me studying?"

"Kind of," I nodded. "But I meant when I was leaving, and you...grabbed my hand."

He stared at me for a moment, his expression blank. Then he grinned. "Oh. You thought..."

My face had to be bright red. I couldn't stand the patronizing look he was giving me. I fixed my eyes on his shoulder so that I wouldn't have to look at his face.

"Did I get your hopes up?" he asked teasingly. "I don't know how to tell you this, Princess, but me grabbing your hand was just...me grabbing your hand. No strings attached."

I opened my mouth to speak, but I found that I had no voice, so I closed it again.

"That's sweet, though," Fred continued. "And you obviously have good taste, so you'll have no trouble finding someone."

I clenched my hand into a fist, my nails digging into my palm. My cheeks were burning. All I wanted was for him to leave.

"I'm going to go now," Fred announced, like the parent of an overly clingy child. "I'll see you tomorrow."

To my indignation, he tousled my hair, winked at me, and went on his way, sauntering up the stairs. I remained frozen in place until the students started trailing out of the Great Hall. I couldn't have been more stunned if he had slapped me in the face. I felt almost numb, except for the sharp pain in the pit of my stomach. I blinked once, twice, to get my bearings and hurried up the stairs.

The corridors were eerily quiet at night. The only sound came from my shoes clicking on the flagstone floor as I paced back and forth. I technically should have been patrolling the whole floor, but I couldn't find the motivation to actually do it. Besides, it wasn't as though Sirius Black was going to suddenly appear on the sixth floor of the castle. So I gave myself a little leeway, and settled for just wandering the one corridor.

The exams had completely sapped my energy, or so it seemed. In addition to that, Elena and Megan had both been pestering me, demanding to know what was wrong. I had only told them that I hadn't been feeling well, which was partially true. Ever since my conversation with Fred, he had barely bothered to speak to me, and when he did, it was in that horrible condescending tone he'd used before, which caused a cocktail of anger and embarrassment to bubble in my chest. I still didn't know what to make of that. That night in the Owlery, I had thought that...well, that there could have been something. But he apparently thought otherwise.

"What am I going to do with you, Fred Weasley?" I sighed, brushing a stray curl back from my face.

There was a metallic clang from behind me as a suit of armor turned. The visor flew open, and a creaky voice came out.

"Forget the weasel infestation," it said. "You could do so much better."

I rolled my eyes as the suit of armor raised its arms, obviously meaning to flex them.

"Are you using a Confundus charm?" it continued. "Or are you just naturally mind-blowing?"

I raised my eyebrows, wondering how many pick-up lines he had heard from the students. He must have learned it from somewhere. Before I could say anything, however, another suit of armor turned toward the first.

"You won't win the lady's heart with that crass behavior," it said sharply. "She is obviously far too honorable for that."

I stepped closer as they continued to argue. My week just seemed to be getting weirder and weirder.

"Oh, shut up, both of you," I snapped when I couldn't take it any longer. I reached up and slammed their visors shut, the resulting clang echoing loudly, and turned on my heel and marched down the corridor to the window.

I leaned on the windowsill, staring out over the moonlit grounds. I exhaled and rested my head against the cool glass. I wished it wasn't so quiet. My thoughts were growing louder and more insistent. This had definitely been my...well, strangest, for lack of a better word, year of Hogwarts yet. This term was just about at end yet I felt like I hadn't truly caught my breath since getting off the train in September. It was true what my mum liked to say, that things could change in an instant, and most often when you least expected them to...but I was still the same Alyssa. Or was I? Something felt different. Harry Potter's face came uncomfortably floating back through my memory, his disdain at finding out I was related to the Blacks, the Weasleys' accusations of my family being spoiled and rich, my mother's strained letter. I could have screamed. It was in my nature to have a plan, have a map, have backups, but I admittedly was feeling less and less in control as time went on. Maybe that was just part of growing up, I thought. Realizing life has its way of screwing with you while you're busy making plans. Certainly, things had been happening that I hadn't been expecting, and I wasn't exactly looking forward to going home this summer and living in fear of my estranged cousin. I was already dreading the idea of spending a whole summer agonizing over stupid, stupid, stupid Fred Weasley...

I suddenly realized my elbows were starting to ache-how long had I been leaning on this dusty window ledge?

"Thanks, Weasley, first you drive me to psychosis and now you're giving me arthritis," I grumbled under my breath, quickly shooting the suits of armor a filthy look over my shoulder, expecting them to start on me again. But they remained still and quiet. I truly was up here alone with my thoughts.

And those thoughts...I'd trade a thousand Galleons for someone to take my head off and shake it vigorously until they came pouring out of my ears. I'd always enjoyed thinking too much-that was one of the reasons I'd been sorted into Ravenclaw, after all-but this time, all of these feelings swirling around felt like spoiled milk.

As I stood up from the window ledge to stretch my aching back, wondering what time it was, the moonlight-bathed corridor suddenly became darker. A rippling shadow was passing over the window, and I could see the leaves from the nearby trees waving about, as though tousled by a turbulent breeze.

"What in the world...?" I murmured to myself, heading back to the window and trying not to think about how many times I'd talked to myself tonight. It really was getting to be a bad habit.

I completely lost whatever grace I possessed as I found myself choking on my own saliva; stumbling backwards in shock and fright as the source of the shadow and turbulence was revealed.

An enormous winged creature was soaring upwards, seemingly heading into the inky black sky and towards the shining full moon. My memory jogged; I thought of Hagrid and the paddock and climbing over the fence: it was a hippogriff.

Its steely feathers gleamed in the moonlight as it soared, and it was a few dumbfounded moments before I realized the hippogriff wasn't alone-there was a...a... I had to stop and rub my eyes to make sure, but I was right. There was a man riding on its back, his thin arms clamped around the creature's thick neck. I nearly missed him; his ragged grey robes had blended into the beast.

The Hippogriff beat it's great wings once again, sending the branches into another tizzy as it rose higher. In my shock I found myself admiring the image for a moment; the way they were framed against the moon, the way the man's long ragged hair was swaying in the breeze; it was the picture of freedom-

"Ahem."

My stomach dropped yet again and I stumbled over my own feet as I spun in place. No one was there, but the overly chatty suit of armor's head was turned to me.

"My fair lady, are you not a Prefect?" He questioned, chortling, the metal rattling a little. "I am certain that that-" he lifted a squeaky arm, pointing out the window- "is not normal."

I blinked once before coming to my senses, slightly burning with humiliation that a suit of armor had to tell me to do my job. I hurtled forward, leaning down to grab my bag as I went, and made a mad dash down the corridor. I cast one last look over my shoulder before I turned out; the figure of the Hippogriff against the sky was indeed still there and getting smaller and smaller by the second.

Leaving a trail of expelled carpet dust hanging in the air behind me, I sprinted as fast as I could for the nearest staircase. I had to find Professor Dumbledore.